Crawling, walking, and how new mobility wrecks sleep

This guide is general information only and isn't a substitute for medical advice. If you're concerned about your child's health, or they're unwell, please see a doctor.

Every big motor milestone tends to cost you sleep for a while. It is not a coincidence and it is not a coincidence you can prevent. A brain that has just worked out how to move is not keen to switch off, and the cot becomes a practice mat.

The pattern

Crawling and pulling up to stand are common milestones around eight to nine months, and by nine to ten months many babies can crawl and stand with support, holding your hand or the furniture. Walking usually follows across the first half of the second year, with a wide normal range.

Each new skill tends to show up in the cot at bedtime and at 4am, because babies rehearse what they've just learned. The sleep disruption is a side effect of progress, and it typically eases once the skill becomes ordinary.

What helps

• Give lots of floor time to practise during the day, so there is less to rehearse at night.
• If your baby stands and gets stuck, help them down calmly, without a chat or a game.
• Once your baby can pull to stand, move the cot base to its lowest setting so they can't climb or topple over the side.
• Hold the routine and the timing steady. Overtiredness makes the practising worse, not better.

Baby-proof the sleep space

Mobility changes what is safe. Keep the cot clear of pillows, soft toys, bumpers and loose bedding, and remember Red Nose recommends keeping soft toys and comforters out of the sleep space from birth to seven months and ideally for the first 12 months. And follow Red Nose's wrapping deadline, which comes earlier than many parents expect: stop wrapping, or make sure the arms are free, as soon as baby shows signs of beginning to roll, or reaches three months of age, whichever comes first. Check that cords, blind chains and furniture near the cot are out of reach now that they can pull themselves up.

How long it lasts

Usually a couple of weeks to a month or so per milestone. The temptation is to introduce a new prop to survive it; the risk is that the prop outlasts the milestone. Offer extra comfort, keep the routine boring, and let the novelty wear off. If sleep hasn't recovered after several weeks, it's worth getting help.

A few things point to a doctor rather than a settling plan. Raising Children advises seeing your GP if your child snores most nights or over a long period, breathes through their mouth, or gasps, chokes or struggles for breath in their sleep, or is unusually tired or hard to wake during the day. Difficulty breathing, pale, blotchy or blue skin, or being very drowsy or hard to rouse are signs of serious illness that healthdirect says need urgent care. And if your child seems to be in pain, is feeding poorly, or isn't growing or gaining weight as expected, see your GP or child and family health nurse, because no settling method fixes a medical problem.

One more thing worth knowing: mobility often disrupts naps before it disrupts nights, because a short day sleep gives a baby less time to get bored of practising. Protect day sleep hard through a milestone and the nights tend to look after themselves.

Sources

• Raising Children Network, Baby development at 8-9 months
• Red Nose Australia, Six safe sleep recommendations
• Red Nose Australia, Soft toys and comforters
• Red Nose Australia, When should we stop wrapping?
• Raising Children Network, Snoring in babies, kids and teenagers
• healthdirect, Symptoms of serious illness in babies and children

Last updated: July 2026. Sources include Red Nose Australia and Raising Children Network where cited above. This guide is general information only. For individual concerns, see your GP or child health nurse.